Scottish Author Alasdair Gray Dies At 85, Tributes Pour In

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Scottish author Alasdair Gray died Sunday at the age of 85
Gray’s works mostly revolved around realism, fantasy, and science fiction
His family said Gray wanted to dedicate his body for scientific research

Scottish author Alasdair Gray acclaimed for his landmark novels such as “Lanark” and “Poor Things” died Sunday at the age of 85, his publisher Canongate said.

Fondly called a “renaissance man,” Gray’s works mostly revolved around realism, fantasy, and science fiction. He had also advocated socialism and Scottish independence in some of his writings.

Gray breathed his last early Sunday morning at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in his hometown Glasgow following a short illness. He was surrounded by his family at the time of death.

His family said Gray wanted to dedicate his body for scientific research and was against a funeral, BBC reported.

"He was unique and irreplaceable and we will miss him greatly. We would like to thank Alasdair's many friends for their love and support, especially in recent years,” they said in a statement.

“He’ll be remembered best for the masterpiece that is Lanark, but everything he wrote reflected his brilliance,” Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said in a Twitter tribute. “Today, we mourn the loss of a genius, and think of his family.”

Such sad news. Alasdair Gray was one of Scotland’s literary giants, and a decent, principled human being. He’ll be remembered best for the masterpiece that is Lanark, but everything he wrote reflected his brilliance. Today, we mourn the loss of a genius, and think of his family. https://t.co/rJMWdfoRNL
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) December 29, 2019

Author Val McDermid hailed Gray for having “transformed our expectations of what Scottish literature could be.” Novelist Ali Smith called him “a modern-day William Blake.”

"His books were beautiful, they were crafted, they were elegant. He had a sense of fun, he was mischievous, he had this huge intellect but he was a 'lad of pairts' - he could do a little bit of everything and he did it all well,” another fellow author and friend, Ian Rankin, told BBC.

Gray was an experimental novelist whose first novel “Lanark” was published in 1981 when he was 46. A pornographic fantasy novel “Janine” was released in 1981 and the novel “Poor Things,” which was a rework of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, followed suit in 1992. His other novels include “A History Maker” (1994), “Old Men In Love” (2007). His illustrations were also greatly admired by art lovers.

The author was given a lifetime achievement award by the Saltire Society for his contribution to Scottish literature.